Seven Saints
by Balin Lord of Moria
Summary: Seven heavenly virtues. Seven drabbles. Seven characters blessed by the magical number seven.
1. Chastity

_Chastity_

Luna Lovegood was lucky. She didn't have the same kind of urges to get in bed with a boy that some of her fellow students had. Luna could never understand how, or why, many of the other girls were so eager to "land a husband," with Romilda Vane, Lavender Brown, and Luna's fellow Ravenclaw, Cho Chang, being some of the most desperate to fall in love. They would even go so far as to try a love potion to get what they wanted!

Couldn't they all see that listening to your hormones instead of your head leads to all kinds of stress, family problems, unwanted pregnancies, and sometimes, STDs? And Headmaster Dumbledore had always warned that to coerce love with a potion made babies who grew up to be people who lived without love, like You-Know-Who.

First of all, Luna was a Ravenclaw. Ravenclaws think before they act, or at least they should. And she had though about what she wanted to do with the people in her life who appreciated her, and how to react to those who didn't. She was content just to have some friends, knowing that marriage was something sacred, something special to be treasured, and she was not the right age for marriage yet. Besides, it's been proven numerous times that love potions don't create true love, only infatuations and obsessions, so who in their right mind would use a love potion to get their lover?

And as for the people who scorned her, she had learned long ago to just ignore those folks and be herself, because, as one of the most original Ravenclaws of her time, she was the most honest with other people.

"I heard about how Romilda Vane tried to slip you a love potion, Harry," she said to one of her best friends.

"Yeah," said Harry Potter, "That witch just won't give up."

"Don't worry, Harry," Luna reassured him, "You're just as sane as I am to know that love potions are not good. And you have the brain to figure out what a premature love relationship can lead to, also. Besides the usual things that Muggles also worry about, those naughty Nargles like to poison such relationships by manipulating the crotches and spiking the semen during sex."

Harry looked at her, wide-eyed at her seeming sense of humor, but he could tell she was quite serious, and quite honest. "I have no doubt we'll both find the right partner someday, Luna," he said.

And years later, when Luna married Rolf Scamander, and Harry married Ginny Weasley, while Romilda Vane and some other girls had messed up with some of their romantic partners, Luna knew one thing. True love comes through chastity, not lust.


	2. Patience

_Patience_

They had always called her naïve. They always said that she was easily swayed to her friends' opinions. They even said that she was too anxious to work on some of her tests. But the fact was, Hannah Abbott of Hufflepuff was that way because she was known, in most situations, for her patience.

Conflict was something she just could not stand. She didn't want anything to break up the harmony between her and her friends, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Ernie Macmillan. In their second year, she briefly argues with Ernie about Harry Potter being the Heir of Slytherin, which doesn't make sense to her.

"Harry always seemed so nice, though. And after all, he is the one who made You-Know-Who disappear."

That's what she said initially. But Ernie had a clever way of swaying her…

"That's probably why You-Know-Who wanted to kill him in the first place!"

Still, since she and Ernie eventually learned better than to believe such a terrible claim, and apologized to Harry, it is evident that she wanted people to forgive her, and wanted in turn to forgive people quickly.

Of course, she wasn't always patient. In her fifth year, she was so anxious about failing her O.W.L.s and being expelled, she had little time for patience. And yet, while she attended meetings with Dumbledore's Army and learned Defense Against the Dark Arts, she was able to make it through the Second Wizarding War with her life and her dignity intact.

And then, years later, when she married Neville Longbottom and took over the Leaky Cauldron, much patience was needed to help take care of their family, because Neville still retained a little of his old childishness, though not nearly as much as years before, and it takes patience to raise children, too.

To summarize, Hannah Abbott was a very kindly young lady who preferred harmony to conflict. While she did believe in competition, especially at the Triwizard Tournament, she did not like chaos. As a Hufflepuff, she may have seemed to have been a naïve little girl who went with any collective crowd she happened to be part of, but the fact was, she just wanted to be loyal to Hufflepuff and her friends, and not to resort to fighting, except when fighting evil, like You-Know-Who.

It may not be the _perfect_ picture of a patient person, but that's how Hannah was.

* * *

 **This was a hard chapter, to say the least.**


	3. Diligence

_Diligence_

Up there, where the team flew their brooms, competing to be the best in Quidditch, they all had to push it. They all knew that it took effort to win, but that it also took effort to play fairly. The Gryffindor team was not going to succumb to the same dirty play that Slytherin always did.

And Angelina Johnson was one fair player, if there ever was one. She played with passion and effort, striving to be the best of the best. And while some, such as Seeker Harry Potter, were even better than her, she still wanted to be the best Chaser Gryffindor had ever seen. Of course, she wanted to give her close friends, Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet, a chance to be the best, too, because they were her best friends.

Angelina also was well aware of the ethics of Quidditch, doing her best not to play any of the seven hundred fouls in the game, even though a few people, such as that louse Snape, seemed to go looking hard for mistakes in her pattern of playing. And she was fit as a fiddle, staying in good shape and never slacking off into laziness, so she could remain in shape to be a winner at the game of Quidditch.

But of course, it wasn't just Quidditch which she was diligent at. She knew Harry was telling the truth when he said that Voldemort had returned, and while not as closely devoted at some, like Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, and Ginny Weasley, she wanted to play a part in the demise of evil, hence her reason for joining Dumbledore's Army. She would persist in being one of the good ones who led Hogwarts to victory, and because the Sorting Hat saw courage in her, nothing could shake her fortitude.

In the Room of Requirement, Angelina eventually got to say something along these lines to Harry after he returned.

"I'm sure that all of us Gryffindors are going to show our bravery tonight, Angelina," Harry replied.

"Well, I'm going to show You-Know-Who that no Dark Arts can conquer the best Quidditch Chaser in a century," said Angelina, smiling with anticipation.

Harry looked somewhat hopeful. "I don't think somebody as good at scoring goals as you could ever not show Voldemort how strong you really are."

"By now, I think we're so good with Defense Against the Dark Arts, no one can kill any of us," Angelina said confidently.

Harry shook his head. "I like your optimism, Angelina, but take my word for it. Somebody's going to die in this battle, and the Gryffindors are the most likely victims. We all know the bravery of standing up against evil, but soon, we'll all know the horrors of war, too."

And Angelina learned that the hard way, when her close friend, Fred Weasley, was killed partway through the battle.


End file.
